Far From Gone
by angelsinstead
Summary: Rick is summoned by Delia to return to Grandview. Melinda needs him.


It was Delia who sent him an urgent message, pleading with him to return to Grandview. The letter had read - "Professor Payne, if you ever cared about Melinda at all, you'll return to Grandview as soon as possible. She needs you now more than ever." Rick was intrigued but also concerned. The situation sounded ominous. He hopped on a plane and headed back to the states.

He was ready for some much-needed warmth. The Himalayas had been far too cold. He swore he had been frostbitten all over every inch of his body. Just one look at Melinda would melt away all the ice - of that he was certain.

Grandview hadn't changed all that much. He arrived in town and drove through the square, stopping in front of the antique shoppe. "Professor Payne, you came!" Delia exclaimed as he walked through the door.

"Yes, I am here. Now WHY am I here?" he asked with curiosity.

"It's Melinda. She... She's in a bad state. She needs you."

"What's wrong?"

"I'll let her explain. She's home. Just go talk to her."

"Does this have something to do with a ghost?" Rick asked.

Delia nodded, but didn't elaborate.

"Well, since you're not talking, I will go play 20 questions with Melinda."

"Thanks. I am glad you're back."

"I am glad to be back, too," Rick admitted. He had missed Grandview, but he had missed Melinda even more. He had been gone FAR too long, yet he had been far from gone. He had promised Melinda he'd come back... and finally he'd returned.

Melinda was in the kitchen, attempting to cook a meal when she heard someone knocking at the front door. She groaned. Why in the world didn't people just leave her alone? Why did everyone always come by to fuss over her? It was probably Delia again!

"Delia, I don't think..." Melinda said as she threw open the door. Her frown faded into a look of shock when she saw Rick standing in the doorway.

"Rick... Rick... is it really you?" Melinda asked in great surprise.

Rick smirked. "Well, yes, the last time I checked."

"Ohhh shut up and give me a hug," Melinda demanded, tears forming in her eyes.

Entering the foyer, Rick pulled her close. Melinda hung on tight as she was crying. It was reminiscent of their last hug, just before Rick had left on his sabbatical. Melinda had been a mess when he said goodbye. And she was a mess now, too, sobbing on his shoulder.

"Hey, what's with all the crying? I thought you'd be happy to see me," Rick said with a crooked smile as he pulled back a few inches to gaze into her gorgeous brown eyes.

"You big jerk," she said as she gave his arm a little slap. "You said you'd be back. You said..."

"Well, I am back."

"Too little, too late," she said. "I needed you, Rick. I needed you so much."

Rick looked baffled. She needed him. Why? "Ohhh I get it. You needed my expertise with ghosts and things that go bump in the night."

"No... yes... well, sort of..."

He stared at her questioningly. "I don't follow."

"Rick, there was ... an accident," she said as if each word caused her excruciating pain. "It's Jim. He didn't make it. He's dead."

"Jim's dead?" Rick said in disbelief. Melinda's husband had died?!

"Yes, he was shot," Melinda confirmed. "I have been trying desperately to contact him, but no matter what, he doesn't appear to me. I need to see him. There is SO MUCH I have to tell him."

"You know I am an expert when it comes to ghostly spouses, considering my dead wife hung around my house for YEARS until you helped her cross over. I will do my best to help," Rick promised. "Should we have a seance? What can I do?"

"I am not sure. I've tried everything. He just doesn't respond to me."

"Ghosts usually hang around after death because they have unfinished business," Rick pointed out. "Like Kate for instance - she haunted me, because she needed me to forgive her. Maybe Jim already went into the light..."

"No! He couldn't have. I still need him," Melinda said with urgency.

"Melinda, you have to let him go," Rick said gently. "He had a happy life. He had you. What more could a man ever want or need?"

He stared into her eyes as he so much wanted to kiss her. Just one small, sweet taste. He had longed for her for so damn long, but she had always been off-limits. She had Jim... and he'd never ask her to cheat, not like his wife had cheated on him.

Tears glistened in Melinda's dark eyelashes. "Ohhh Rick," she said as she went back into his arms again, pressing herself against his chest. She inhaled his scent, holding him close in her embrace. "This is so hard."

"I am going to be here for you, Melinda. I won't leave you," Rick promised as he caressed her hair. "I am going to help you through this."

"You won't leave me again... for ice and mountains?"

"No, not ever," he said as he kissed the top of her head, inhaling the sweet flowery scent of her hair. Damn, how he loved this woman. He had NEVER had the chance to say the words, although he had tried. He had almost spilled it all out to her when he was drunk one night, but in the end, her wedding band had stopped him from acting upon his desires. She had been happy with Jim, her incredible husband. Rick couldn't deny her that joy. He'd never be Jim Clancy. She could never love him as she had loved her husband.

"I am so glad you're back," she said as she stared into his sapphire eyes.

"I am glad I am back, too. Professor Payne at your service... ready and willing to help you with your ghostly and paranormal encounters."

Melinda couldn't help it. She laughed. He always made her laugh and smile. There had been many times when his raunchy humor had infuriated her, but she couldn't deny his quirks were also endearing. He tried so hard. She knew him well enough to know that he was afraid of being hurt... of getting too close to someone again after his fiasco marriage to Kate.

"Will you stay here with me tonight? I don't want to be alone," Melinda admitted.

Rick nodded. "Sure. What's for dinner? I smell something delicious in the kitchen. Would that be food? Please say it is something edible. All they served was peanuts on the plane. I am starving."

"You always did love food. I am cooking... something..."

"I can help," he offered.

He followed her into the kitchen, but they weren't alone. A ghostly presence was watching them from across the room. The ghost shook her head. How dare HER Rick be hanging out with Melinda, the one who had tried to persuade her to go into the light?! How could she go into the light, yet also keep an eye on Rick? Why was Melinda cooking for Rick, HER husband?

Suddenly Melinda looked up, seeing a ghost staring at her and Rick across the room as they were working together to prepare the meal. "What is it? A ghost?" Rick asked. "Is it Jim?"

Melinda shook her head, her eyes wide. "No."

"Who is it then?"

"It's Kate."

"No way! Not Kate! Not my dead wife **again**! I thought she went into the light."

"I thought so, too."

"I am not going into the light. Melinda, you can't HAVE my husband," Kate said.

"He's not your husband anymore," Melinda pointed out. "You're dead."

"So, that doesn't mean YOU can have him. He's mine."

"No, he's not."

"Melinda, are you arguing with a ghost?" Rick asked as he could only hear Melinda's side of the conversation.

"Kate isn't happy to see you and me... well, together."

Rick did a double-take. "Is that what we are... together?"

"Well, Kate seems to think so."

"Just admit it," said Kate angrily. "You want to jump his bones."

"I do not!" Melinda retorted. "Get out of my kitchen!"

Suddenly Kate disappeared but Melinda knew she would be back. Melinda let out a heavy sigh. "I wanted to see Jim, but Kate reappears, trying to put her claim back onto you. I thought she went into the light. I guess not. She's back."

"Well, I am not hers anymore. I haven't been hers for a long, long time. Melinda, I have feelings for someone else."

"You do?" Melinda asked as she gazed at him.

Rick nodded.

"Who? _Who_ is she?"

"I am looking right at her."

Melinda's heart skipped a beat. Somehow she had always known. She had always felt it, too - some sort of pull towards Rick. There was no denying she had feelings for him, but _if_ she admitted it, would she be somehow betraying Jim, her husband whom she had loved?

"Rick, I-."

"You don't have to say anything, Melinda. I just thought you should know."

"I want to talk about this... about us... but it's far too soon. I just lost Jim."

"I know and I am not rushing you. We can have fun until you're ready to talk... chasing ghosts, battling the paranormal, all that exciting stuff. It will be Professor Payne and Melinda Gordon - just like old times."

"I miss the old times."

"Me, too."

Kate listened as she was seething. She'd show Melinda Gordon. Jim might have gone into the light, but Kate was far from gone. She'd do whatever she could to hang onto Rick, even in death. Melinda couldn't have him; he was **hers**!

"Pssst..." Kate heard a voice say out of the bright gleaming light she was destined to enter. She had been avoiding it for years, hellbent on hanging onto Rick.

"Go away, Jim. I am not going into that light."

"It's nice here. You'll be happy... far happier than you ever were in life."

"I don't want to be happy; I want to have Rick," Kate argued.

"You lost your chance with Rick a long time ago. Admit it. You betrayed him. He was angry, but he forgave you. Now you have to let him go."

Kate knew that Jim was right, but damn, she didn't want to admit it or walk into that brilliant beam of light. "Who's going to take care of Rick? What will he do without me? Who's going to feed him? Who's gonna pick up his dirty underwear off the floor?"

"Melinda will look out for him. He's going to look out for her, too. THIS is our fate. Come into the light."

Melinda and Rick had just set dinner on the table when Kate appeared again, startling Melinda. Kate was sitting in the middle of the table in between the dishes of food. "You're back?" Melinda said unhappily.

"I have decided to go into the light; this time for real," Kate stated. "Your husband Jim talked me into it."

"You spoke to Jim?"

"Yes, he is happy. He wants you to be happy, too. Tell Rick I am sorry and I need him to find joy again. He deserves it."

"Okay, I will tell him."

Melinda watched as Kate disappeared into an incredible ray of light. "Kate again?" Rick asked in between bites of his dinner.

"Yes, she apologized and said she wants you to be happy. She talked to Jim. He persuaded her to enter the light."

"Thank you, Jim," Rick said with sincere gratefulness. "I guess this is the way it's meant to be then - you and me, Melinda Gordon, for better or for worse."

"For better," she said as she gave him a little smile.

She reached out and touched his hand, lightly caressing his fingers. "I missed you so much."

A smile lit up his face. "I missed you more."


End file.
